Gretzky, Lemieux, Forsberg, LaFontaine. That’s the list of players in the last 30 seasons to have multiple five assist games in one season. Add Mathew Barzal to the list after Friday night. Barzal became the first rookie in 100 years to have three five point games in one season dishing five assists in the 7-6 win over the Red Wings. That puts Barzal over a point per game on the season and makes him the prohibitive favorite for the Calder (sorry Boeser). Our second podcast ever, which took place before last season, saw Reid and I hype up Barzal for dynasties. Regardless, he’s blown away my expectations this season. Now, it’s not all rosy for fantasy. The penalty minutes are low, but more importantly the shot rate is barely over two per game. On the other hand, he’s 20 years old and is over a point per game, so it’s hard to complain. There’s a top 20 fantasy player in Barzal’s future if he can get that shot rate up. Regardless, he’ll be a borderline top 50 player next year solely for the points, and it’s only going to get better from there. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
Friday’s Games
Henrik Zetterberg – Goal and three assists with four shots. He turned into a pure AAGNOF at this point in his career but there’s still some value in that for the 37 year old.
Niklas Kronwall – Two assists with two shots. And there’s your annual Kronwall update!
Mike Green – Goal and an assist with three shots. It’ll be interesting to see where he’s moved to because it’s going to have an impact on his value, albeit not a gigantic one.
Anthony Mantha – Two goals on four shots. He’s starting to get back on a roll which makes him an elite streamer to borderline hold.
Brock Nelson – Hat trick. This game looked over before Tyler Bertuzzi took a five minute major with 6 minutes left and the Isles scored four goals on it. That resulted in Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey and John Tavares all getting two points. Those three are all no-brainer holds. Nelson is a bottom end streamer but that could change with some improved play or a trade.
Kevin Hayes – Goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM. Hayes is still a decent streamer and I could see him having a strong finish to the season with the increase in minutes.
J.T. Miller – Two assists with three shots. The shot rate has somehow gotten worse to right around 1.5 per game. That alone makes him a streamer in my mind instead of a hold.
Lars Eller – Goal and an assist with two shots. He was rewarded with a 5 year extension for 3.5 million per season, leaving Carlson as the only notable UFA on the Caps. Eller remains a guy that has value in deep leagues but isn’t going to do much for 12’ers.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Kuz is hotter than a pistol right now piling up the assists. His shots are all over the place so hopefully he can find some consistency.
Scott Darling – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 4-1 win over the Canucks. I streamed Darling for this game but even then it didn’t feel safe, which is all you need to know. I’d use him in the best of spots but that’s it.
Sebastian Aho – Goal and an assist with four shots. Aho has played right around the level that I expected when I put him just inside the top 100 in the preseason. I still think he will find another gear down the line for those in dynasties.
Brett Pesce – Goal and an assist with two shots. Solid player in real life, not so much in fantasy.
Derek Forbort – Three assists playing almost 25 minutes. That’s about a month’s worth of production for Forbort in one game!
Jonathan Quick – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 3-1 win in Florida. He was in the middle of his worst stretch of the season before this game. I’ve never been a Quick guy, so if you could sell high I’d consider it, but at this point of the season I’m fine with just riding him and hoping for the best.
Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s an elite streamer at the least. For now, I’d lean that way with Connor, although if the Jets have a heavy stretch of games, I’d just hold him through that.
Vladimir Tarasenko – Two goals on seven shots. Tarasenko might be underappreciated for how good he is. The goals are down a bit due to a lower shooting percentage than normal but he’s almost at four shots per game, he’s +21, and the assists will almost certainly be a career high.
Jaden Schwartz – Goal and an assist with two PIM. It’s a damn shame he was injured because Schwartz would be a top 25 player on the season.
Alex Steen – Goal and an assist. Solid streamer but I’m not holding Steen at this point.
Jamie Benn – Three assists with a shot. Crushing all of the categories per usual.
Hampus Lindholm – Goal and an assist with four shots. One of the best defenseman in the league, Lindholm is right on the fringe. He’s decent enough in all categories (great in goals for D to this point) but it’s nothing special. I would marginally lean hold in roto leagues where he’s hitting all of the categories at a decent enough level but probably leave him on waivers in 12’ers. Definitely can go either way and it’s not a big deal.
Saturday’s Games
Jack Eichel – Suffered a high ankle sprain resulting in Eichel being out for at least one month. Ugh. Just as he was finding his groove, Eichel takes a brutal hit. Put him on your IR spot and hope he comes back this season, which is no guarantee.
Scott Wilson – Goal and an assist. He’s playing in the top six right now making him an okay streamer in deep leagues but that’s it.
Artturi Lehkonen – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. That’s five points in the last three games with Lehkonen playing top six minutes now. Solid streamer at the moment.
Steven Stamkos – Goal and an assist. I’ve run out of superlatives for Stamkos.
Andrei Vasilevskiy – 44 saves on 47 shots in the 4-3 win over the Kings. He had to be included because this is one of the best saves I’ve ever seen:
https://twitter.com/OzzieStern/status/962498689347608576
Andy Andreoff – Two assists as did his linemate Nick Shore. Moving on…
Mark Stone – Two assists with three shots. Stone keeps chugging along as the team continues to disappoint around him.
Mitch Marner – Two goals and three assists with five shots. Marner was really starting to get back to last year’s form before this game. The shot rate and minutes are up so Marner could be a massive difference maker down the stretch.
Patrick Marleau – Goal and two assists with six shots. Fine streamer but Marleau hasn’t come close to hold level like I had hoped when he signed in Toronto.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with six shots. After going through an awful stretch with one point in twenty games, Kadri has 11 points in his past 10 games. If he was dropped, I’d grab him while he’s hot.
Sergei Bobrovsky – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 6-1 win over the Devils. Bob’s numbers are strong but not god-like as it was last season. That said, everything is in place for him to close extremely well.
Boone Jenner – Two assists with three shots. I had such high hopes for Jenner after his breakout 2015-16 but at this point, he’s a deep league only guy.
Seth Jones – Two assists with four shots. Jones getting his shot rate up to over three per game is massive for his dynasty value. He’s already a #2 at this point.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s not lighting the world on fire but Panarin was been solid all season.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and an assist with five shots. I still like Bjorkstrand’s long term upside but he’s a bottom end streamer at best in 12’ers.
Cam Ward – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over the Avalanche. He’s been fine lately so Ward should be owned. That said, I still don’t trust him.
Elias Lindholm – Two assists with four shots. A high shooting percentage is making Lindholm more valuable than he even deserves to be. He’s still streamable but I thought he’d play towards a bottom end hold level.
Brock McGinn – Two goals on five shots. Another guy that doesn’t provide us fantasy players much at all.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Two assists with four shots. Ghost Bear has established himself as a bottom end #1 defenseman for fantasy. Those power play points are so damn strong.
Devan Dubnyk – 44 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Blackhawks. Dubnyk is well-positioned behind a healthy Wild team to have an outstanding close to the season. I’ve long been a Dubnyk fan and I’m buying all his stock for ROS.
Charlie Coyle – Two goals on three shots. Coyle is a solid streamer, which is a step back from where he was most of last season. However, with no assists in his past ten games, he’s got a ways to go in order to approach being a hold again.
Joe Pavelski – Two goals and two assists with six shots. I thought Pavelski was clearly on the downside but he’s been on a huge tear recently. He’s been unlucky in his shooting percentage so we could see an extended goal stretch incoming.
Joakim Ryan – Two goal on three shots. These were his first two goals this season in game 47. You can make your own conclusions.
Michael Cammalleri – Two assists with three shots. Like Marleau, I had high hopes for Cammalleri switching teams, but he’s become a middling streamer at best.
Zach Kassian – Two goals on three shots. I suppose he’s a streamer in deep leagues with his massive PIM and hits, but that’s about it.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with four shots. He’s been on fire with 14 points in his past 10 games to approach a point per game on the season. I still don’t see someone who is a top 20 pick given the poor PIM and mediocre shot rate but Draisaitl will be a big point producer for years to come.
Sunday Games
Sidney Crosby – Two goals on three shots. He reached 400 goals in his career in this one, just another accolade for Crosby. He’s playing like the best player in the league again lately.
Bryan Rust – Goal and an assist with four shots. Rust is with Crosby right now making him an elite streamer.
Dominik Simon – Two assists. See Rust, Bryan.
Matt Murray – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blues. Murray has been quite poor this season and I’m not convinced it’s going to get better. I wouldn’t sell this low so I’d just hold if I owned him, but I wouldn’t be targeting him as a buy low.
Frans Nielsen – Two assists with two shots. He has eight points in his past eight games but I still wouldn’t consider streaming Nielsen. Poor PIM and a dreadful shot rate makes him a hard pass.
Tomas Tatar – Two goals on four shots. Meh, Tatar is a bottom end streamer at this point. The goals are decent but everything else is well below average.
Nick Jensen – Two assists with two shots. Zzzzzzz.
Dylan Larkin – Two assists with two shots playing almost 22 minutes. Larkin would be having a huge breakout if his shooting percentage was higher. He’s still only 21 so the upside is through the roof for dynasties.
Alex Ovechkin – Goal and an assist with three shots. Monster.
Jay Beagle – Two assists. Beagle is always just there doing little for us.
John Carlson – Two assists with a shot. The bounce back is real which will lead Carlson to get paid this offseason. They’ve started contract negotiations and I’d expect them to reach a deal. We’re looking at career highs across the board for Carlson at this point.
Henrik Lundqvist – 37 saves on 38 shots in the 3-1 win over the Jets. I should never doubt the King. I kind of feel like the Rangers are going to trade away a ton of guys but still float around the playoff picture because Lundqvist is great and the young guys are exciting.
Jacob Markstrom – 30 save shutout in the 6-0 win over the Stars. I most definitely did not expect the Canucks to go into Dallas and destroy the Stars. Markstrom is in the desperate for starts territory.
Reid Boucher – Two goals on seven shots. Another guy with little relevance.
Jake Virtanen – Goal and an assist with two shots. I don’t want to give up on Virtanen as I was a fan in his draft class but I’m starting to lose hope. There haven’t been many signs to this point of Virtanen developing into a top six guy.
Colin Wilson – Goal and an assist. His first season in Colorado has been disappointing offensively so I wouldn’t be using Wilson anywhere right now.
Ryan O’Reilly – Goal and two assists with five shots. I never include faceoff wins, but RoR has 29 faceoff wins! He always gets up for a nice revenge game. He played almost 27 minutes in this game which is also insane. I’d own him right now as he’s scored 6 goals in his past 9 games and he’ll be counted on massively with Eichel out.
Taylor Hall – Goal and an assist with three shots. Hall just keeps cruising as a slam dunk top 20 forward.
Patrice Bergeron – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. Speaking of slam dunk top 20 forwards, Patrice Bergeron everyone!
Torey Krug – Two goals on four shots. Krug has 11 points in his last 10 games and the shot rate is climbing back up. The minutes are lower than in the past but Krug should be a bottom end #2 to top end #3 for the rest of the way.
Mike Smith – 23 saves on 25 shots in the 3-2 win over the Islanders. Smith left the game with 1.2 seconds left with what looked like a groin injury. Smith has been outstanding this season so hopefully it’s not serious. David Rittich should take over if Smith misses time so I’d grab him now if you need help.
Matthew Tkachuk – Two goals on six shots. Tkachuk is showing even more offensive prowess than I thought he had in his bag of tricks. I think we could see a 30+ goal, 100 PIM, 250+ SOG guy in the future.
Michael Frolik – Two assists with three shots and two PIM. Frolik is super steady as a solid streamer. Alliteration unintended.
Logan Couture – Goal and an assist with three shots. He’s been fortunate with a high shooting percentage but Couture has played great all season long.
Ondrej Kase – Goal and an assist. He’s impressed me since he made the Ducks last season out of nowhere. I’m stream him now.
Nick Ritchie – Two assists with a shot. I’d like to have seen more offensive from Ritchie at this point in his career, but there’s still some deep league value for the massive hit totals.
Michal Neuvirth – 38 saves on 39 shots in the 4-1 win over Vegas. I still think Neuvirth is the best goalie on Philly’s roster. I’d stream him in all starts right now.
Sean Couturier – Goal and two assists with three shots. The first line keeps cruising as Claude Giroux and Travis Konecny each had two points. Konecny should be owned everywhere now with 10 points in the last 10.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Wednesday recapping the action for the next two nights. Be sure to check out Lackeydrinksonme’s streaming post that will be out today. Please leave any questions, comments, suggestions etc. below. Thanks for reading, take care!
